Monaco’s “White Paper” on energy transition presented at Yacht Club

Thursday evening at the Yacht Club, Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, Environment and Urban Development, and Jean-Luc Nguyen, Director of the Mission for Energy Transition, presented the “White Paper” (Le Livre Blanc) on “The Energy Transition of the Principality of Monaco”, in the presence of HSH Prince Albert.

Concluding the presentation, attended by some 100 people at the Yacht Club, HSH stressed the importance he attaches to the Principality’s energy transition, with regard to commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: -50% in 2030, compared to 1990, and carbon neutrality by 2050.

Touching upon the development of solar panels, banning fuel oil for heating, and perhaps a car-free day initiative, the Prince said, “Be assured of my determination that our community will evolve in a progressive but irreversible way towards this energetic transition.”

To achieve these ambitious aims, the approach of the White Paper on Energy Transition is to collect and bring together the views, actions and expectations of key players in Monaco – 59 organisations and almost 90 people were interviewed – in order to define the shared roadmap that will lead towards the goals of 2050.

These carbon neutral objectives imply a reduction rate four times faster than that which has been monitored so far and require the commitment and action of the entire Monegasque community. A policy carried out by the Government on three priority axes: mobility, waste management and energy efficiency of buildings.

Therefore, incentives and a regulatory framework will be implemented in order to encourage the behavioural changes that are essential to driving Monaco towards decarbonisation.

The issues and lines of action identified by the White Paper participants are presented in the document published on March 23, 2017, which can be downloaded from the Government’s website.

A French consumer association has denounced high margins as the reason behind substantially higher prices for bio products.
UFC-Que Choisir: Association de consommateurs (UFC) said on Tuesday, August 28, that organic fruits and vegetables remain on average 79 percent more expensive than their counterparts from conventional agriculture. The UFC blames distributors.
The study carried out by the consumer association in 1,541 shops showed that the price of annual consumption of organic fruit and vegetables for an average French household is €660, against €368 for the conventional equivalent.
"If production costs are higher in bio – lower yields, relatively higher labour – this explains only half of the additional cost to consumers, of which 46 percent is because of bigger margins on bio produce by supermarkets,” said the UFC.
Overall, the margin strategy of large-scale retailers – with obscure economic justifications – has resulted in an annual increase in the organic basket for a household of €135. In other words, only half of the extra cost of organic food paid by consumers goes to production, the remainder being accounted for by larger margins,” the association noted.
The UFC said only one out of two larger supermarkets stocks organic apples and tomatoes.

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Initiated by the United Nations in 1972 in Stockholm, World Environment Day on June 5 will focus this year on the theme: #beatplasticpollution.
At least 1,800 billion pieces of plastic waste pollutes the oceans. Over the years, they have agglomerated into a huge mass, equivalent to three times the area of France, which continues to expand in the Pacific.
For the last ten years, the Principality has been committed to reducing the negative impacts of plastic on the environment: by enhancing selective sorting, enabling the plastic once collected in yellow bins to benefit from a second life, and by banning, since June 2016, single-use plastic bags.
The ban was extended on January 1, 2017, to all plastic bags for the packaging of bulk products on the shelves of food stores or on market stands. Only compostable bags consisting of at least 30 percent bio-sourced materials are allowed. (From January 1, 2020, disposable plastic kitchen utensils will also be banned.)
From 2017, eco-responsible solutions such as the use of tap water and water fountains have been encouraged within the State administration.
“As part of Monacology, which will take place from June 11 to 15, and to educate the youngest on the issue of plastic pollution, the Environment Directorate will offer children a bottle that they can customise and put in their backpack,” says Valérie Davenet, Monaco’s Director of the Environment.
“This World Environment Day’s Beat Plastic Pollution is a good opportunity for everyone to reduce their use by no longer buying or using plastic straws, a source of pollution, and focus on biodegradable materials such as paper, bamboo or corn starch,” said Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Planning.